Wisconsin teen Ashlee Martinson, the former blogger who penned dark stories about death under the pseudonym "Vampchick," says in a new interview that she's "happy" to be in prison for killing her mother and stepfather following extensive alleged abuse.
"I'm happy because I'm getting help right now," Martinson says in an exclusive clip from an upcoming prison interview with Crime Watch Daily, which is scheduled to air Tuesday.
"My sisters are safe, and I know that sounds crazy because I'm in prison, but I feel like I'm free," Martinson says. "I can have an opinion now. I can have my own thoughts. I can wake up everyday and know that I'm safe."
In March 2015, Martinson, then 17, fatally stabbed her mother more than 30 times and shot her stepfather twice with a shotgun, before fleeing with her boyfriend, then 22.
She was arrested the next day. (Her boyfriend was not implicated in the killings.)
Martinson eventually pleaded guilty in the deaths and was sentenced in June to 23 years in prison.
While the self-proclaimed "horror fanatic"'s blogging initially stirred speculation about her motive, Martinson's lawyers described a long history of alleged physical, mental and verbal abuse that the teen both suffered and witnessed from mother Jennifer Ayers and stepfather Thomas Ayers.
Martinson said that Thomas physically abused her mother for years, and was further mentally and verbally abusive to her.
As a former neighbor told PEOPLE, " I don't condone murder, but an adolescent who has been abused for years can only take so much until they strike back."
However, Thomas' brother, Don, previously told PEOPLE that he was displeased with his sibling's portrayal as an abuser: "Thomas and Jennifer are being judged right now by what she is saying about them, but they aren't here to defend themselves because she killed them."
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